Portsmouth vaccinations: Cosham Fire Station hosts 'convenient' walk-in Covid-19 clinic for jabs

Adults were able to walk in and get vaccinated at the fire station from midday to 6pm today.

The clinic saw a jab every minute as attendees praised the Solent NHS Trust operation for its quick and simple set-up.

Among those receiving their first dose was 23-year-old Fatima Khatun, who had been hesitant about the vaccine – but found the walk-in clinic a convenient way to act on her newfound confidence.

Fatima, who attended the centre before starting a shift in the Tesco superstore in Fratton Way, said: ‘I was a bit hesitant before. It was such a new thing. It’s such a weird situation – I’ve had so many vaccinations in the past. But I wasn’t sure about this one at first.

‘None of my friends has been vaccinated – I think they are just being lazy. They just need to get round to it.

‘Today has been very convenient.’

Fatima is now one of 144,024 people who have had one Covid-19 vaccine jab, with 110,820 receiving two jabs, according to NHS data updated on Friday.

Eighteen-year-old Josh Lovelock didn’t book a second jab – as he was confident a walk-in centre would become available sooner and offer more convenience.

The Portchester resident said: ‘I didn’t book a second appointment, and then I saw this come up and thought I should come down. I didn’t book a second one because the waiting time was so long, I thought it would be (better) to wait for a walk-in centre one and turn up.

‘A lot of my friends are using the walk-in centres, because for them it’s more flexible for them around education and work.’

Despite the size of the operation at the fire station, fire crews were still available to attend emergencies, with their appliances parked outside the station.

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Watch manager Craig Sadler said: ‘We’re fully operational.

‘And the more people who get vaccinated, that makes the risk factor lower, and it keeps our communities safer and in turn will keep us safer.’

Stephanie Clark, Portsmouth vaccination lead at Solent NHS Trust, said the turn-out had been ‘fantastic’.

Stephanie said: ‘It’s been fantastic, a really good turn out, because it’s so easy to get to. Being right in the middle of Cosham, it’s so easy to find us and get vaccinated.’

It follows a pop-up walk-in vaccination clinic in Fratton Park, Portsmouth FC’s home, last weekend, which attracted hundreds of people to grab a jab.

The NHS trust is hoping to bring a pop-up vaccination clinic to a venue in Gunwharf Quays, and a full list of walk-in centres can be found here.

The News launched the Grab a Jab campaign last week in a bid to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. Portsmouth currently lags behind neighbouring areas in terms of vaccines administered – and the more people who get jabbed, the more the city will be protected from any Covid outbreaks.

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